It is time for the famous Champions League music to blare out once more and we have taken a look at the best Opta stats for matchday one.

Published

12 September 2016

Almost four months have passed since Real Madrid lifted Europe's top honour for the 11th time when they defeated city rivals Atletico Madrid in a thrilling penalty shootout in May's Champions League final.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the winning penalty in Milan, and his fellow Galacticos have to wait until Wednesday to start the defence of their title.

However, the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Atleti start their bid for supremacy when the group stages get underway on Tuesday.

Using Opta data, we take a look at the best stats ahead of Tuesday's eight group-stage matches.

- PSG and Arsenal's only previous encounter was in the 1993-94 Cup Winners Cup semi-finals. The Gunners won 2-1 on aggregate, including a 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes.
- PSG have lost only one of their last 39 home games in European competition (W25 D13), and that was against Barcelona in April 2015 (1-3).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their 12 away games against French clubs in European competition (W8 D4), including winning their last seven.
- However, only once (in seven games) has an English club beaten Paris SG at the Parc des Princes in European competition. It was Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in September 2004 (3-0).
- Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League for the 19th consecutive season, only Real Madrid (20) can boast a longer current streak.

BASEL v LUDOGORETS

- Basel have never progressed further than the last 16 in the Champions League (2011-12, 2014-15).
- Ludogorets went through three rounds of qualifying to reach this season's group stages, eliminating Mladost Podgorica, Red Star Belgrade and Viktoria Plzen.
- Basel striker Seydou Doumbia is the top African scorer in the Champions League since 2011-12 with 13 goals (all with CSKA Moscow).
- Basel and Ludogorets are facing each other for the third time in four seasons in all competitions (Champions League play-offs 2013-14, group stages 2014-15, group stages 2016-17).
- Ludogorets won only one of their six games in the 2014-15 Champions League group stages, it was against…Basel (1-0 at home), drawing one and losing four.

BENFICA v BESIKTAS

- This is Besiktas' sixth Champions League participation, their first since 2009-10. They have never reached the knockout stages.
- Benfica have won the European Cup/Champions League on two occasions, in 1961 and 1962, the joint-most for a Portuguese team alongside Porto. However, only Juventus have lost more finals (6) than the Lisbon side (5).
- This is Besiktas' sixth Champions League participation, their first since 2009-10. They have never reached the knockout stages.
- Benfica have scored more than two goals only once in their last 40 Champions League games (v Anderlecht in November 2013).
- Only Galatasaray have made more Champions League appearances (14) than Besiktas (6) among Turkish clubs. Fenerbahce are also on six.

DYNAMO KIEV v NAPOLI

- This is the first competitive encounter between Dynamo Kiev and Napoli.
- Dynamo Kiev are taking part in their 16th Champions League campaign, more than any other Ukrainian club.
- This is Napoli's third appearance in the Champions League after 2011-12 and 2013-14. They have yet to progress past the last 16.
- None of Napoli's last 11 Champions League games has ended in a draw (W7 L4). Away from home, they have lost four of their last six (W2).
- Napoli have only failed to score once in 14 Champions League games, that was against Arsenal in October 2013 (0-2).

BARCELONA v CELTIC

- Barcelona have won six of their eight Champions League games against Celtic (D1 L1). Celtic's only win in that run was in November 2012 when they recorded only 15 per cent possession at Celtic Park to beat the Catalans (2-1).
- Celtic have lost on their last three trips to the Camp Nou, all in the Champions League (2 goals scored, 9 conceded).
- Barcelona have won the Champions League in four of the last 11 seasons. No other team has won it more than twice in the same period (Real Madrid, 2).
- Barcelona have reached the Champions League semi-finals in seven of the last nine seasons. The only exceptions were in 2013-14 and 2015-16, when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atleti on both occasions.
- Lionel Messi has netted 83 goals in the Champions League, the second highest tally in the competition behind Cristiano Ronaldo (93). However, he scored 'only' six goals last season, his lowest tally in a Champions League campaign since 2007-08.

- Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach are facing each other in the Champions League group stages for the second consecutive season. City won both games in 2015-16 (6 goals scored, 3 conceded).
- This is Manchester City's sixth consecutive Champions League participation. They have made it past the last 16 only once, it was in 2015-16 when they reached the semi-finals (knocked out by Real Madrid).
- None of Manchester City's 30 Champions League group games have ended goalless. They have also only kept four clean sheets in those 30 matches.
- This is Gladbach's second consecutive Champions League group stage participation, after failing to qualify for any of the previous 23 campaigns.
- Sergio Aguero has failed to score in his last five Champions League games, his longest drought in the competition since his run of five games without a goal between November 2011 and October 2012.

BAYERN MUNICH v ROSTOV

- Bayern Munich have reached the Champions League final three times in the last seven seasons. They have been knocked out at the semi-final stage in each of the last three campaigns.
- This is the 19th time in the last 20 seasons that Bayern Munich are taking part in the Champions League, the only exception coming in 2007-08.
- Bayern have won 18 of their last 19 Champions League group games at home (L1), their only defeat coming against Manchester City in December 2013 (2-3). They have scored 59 goals in those 19 games.
- Rostov are the only team, alongside Leicester City, to make their Champions League group stage debut this season. They are also the sixth Russian side to appear in the group stages of the competition.
- Bayern are the seventh club managed by Carlo Ancelotti in the Champions League, a record in the history of the competition. The Italian also holds the record for most European Cup/Champions League wins as a manager, alongside Bob Paisley (3).

PSV v ATLETICO MADRID

- Atleti are unbeaten against PSV (D2 W2), with all of their previous encounters having taken place in the Champions League.
- This is their third encounter in 2016 after their two encounters in last season's last 16 stage; both ended goalless.
- PSV are one of three Dutch clubs to have won the European/Champions League alongside Ajax and Feyenoord. The Eindhoven club lifted the cup in 1988 after a penalty shoot-out against Benfica.
- Atleti have lost all three of the European Cup/Champions League finals they have taken part in (1974, 2014, 2016).
- Only Real Madrid have played more Champions League games (38) than Atleti (36) over the last three seasons.